Ravenhill Plays: 1: Shopping and F***ing; Faust is Dead; Handbag; Some Explicit Polaroids (Contemporary Dramatists) (12 page)

Lulu
     Well, he’s mine. I own him.

Mark
     Fuck’s sake.

Lulu
     I own him but I don’t want him.

Gary
     Dunt want me.

Lulu
     You know something.

He’s trash and I hate him.

Robbie
     Hate him.

Gary
     Right. Hates me.

Robbie
     And the fat bloke says –

Lulu
     Well, you wanna buy him?

Gary
     Yes.

Robbie
     And / I say.

Gary
     You say.

Robbie
     How much?

Lulu
     Piece of trash like that. Well, let’s say twenty. He’s yours for twenty.

Robbie
     So you see the money.

Gary
     I see money. See you pay him.

Robbie
     You’ve seen the . . .

Gary
     Transaction. I’ve seen the transaction.

Robbie
     Transaction.

Gary
     Yes and you’ve come to fetch me. You don’t say anything. Just take me away.

Robbie
     Good. Take you away.

Gary
     Big car. Through the security gates and we’re in the house.

And now dark. I can’t see because . . . I’m wearing a, there’s like a . . .

Lulu
     A blindfold?

Gary
     Blindfold. Yes . . . like a blindfold.

Lulu
produces a blindfold
.

Mark
pushes
Lulu
away and put his arms around
Gary
.

Mark
     Alright. Stop now. See? You can choose this instead. You must like that.

Just to be loved.

Gary
     What are you doing?

Mark
     Just holding you.

Gary
     You’ve not even fucked me.

He pushes
Mark
away
.

You’re taking the piss, aren’t you?

Mark
     I’m just trying to show you. Because, I don’t think that you have ever actually been loved and if the world has offered us no practical . . .

Gary
     What are you?

Mark
     I can take care of you.

Gary
     You’re nobody. You’re not what I want.

Mark
     If you can just get out of this trap.

Gary
     I don’t want you. Understand? You’re nothing.

Mark
     Wait. I just need to get this.

Mark
takes coke from
Gary
’
s pocket and retreats
.

Lulu
     Do you understand what we’re going to do to you?

Gary
     Yes.

Lulu
     You understand and do you want us to do this?

Gary
     Yes.

Lulu
puts the blindfold on
Gary
.

Robbie
     Blindfold you and –

Gary
     Take me up the stairs.

Robbie
     In my house?

Gary
     In your house.

Lulu
and
Robbie
spin
Gary
around
.

Robbie
     And you feel . . . you know this house. Know you’ve been here before.

Gary
     Yeah. When have I been here before?

Lulu
     And now. Now a bare room.

So – you’re the new slave?

Robbie
     Yes. Yes, old woman. This is the new slave.

Lulu
     Beware. Beware. Do you now what the last slave died of?

Gary
     No. There’s no woman.

Robbie
     Now.

Lulu
     Sssssh. He’s coming. The master is coming. Sssssshhh.

Gary
     I know this house. I know who he is.

Robbie
     Knob. Knob on the door turning.

Silence
.
Gary
stands very still
.
Robbie
slowly approaches him from behind. Long pause –
Robbie
inches away from
Gary
.

Gary
     Go on.

Robbie
     Yes?

Gary
     Do it.

Robbie
     It’s what you want.

Gary
     Yes.

Robbie
starts to undo
Gary
’s trousers
.

Robbie
     Yes?

Gary
     Yes.

Robbie
pulls down
Gary
’s trousers
.

He spits on his hand. Slowly he works the spit up
Gary
’s arse
.

Robbie
     Now?

Gary
     Do it now.

Robbie
     Now.

Robbie
unzips his fly. Works spit on to his penis. He penetrates
Gary
.
He starts to fuck him
.

Silence
.
Robbie
continues to fuck
Gary
.

Lulu
     Is that good? Do you like that?

More silent fucking
.

Robbie
(
to
Mark
)     Do you want him?

Mark
     I . . .

Robbie
     Do you know what he is? Trash. Trash and I hate him. Want him, you can have him.

Mark
     Yes.

Robbie
pulls away
.
Mark
goes through the same routine – spitting and penetrating
Gary
.
He fucks him viciously
.

Mark
     Fuck you. Fuck you.

Lulu
     Does it hurt? Is it hurting you?

Gary
     Are you him? Are you my dad?

Mark
     No.

Gary
     Yes. You’re my dad.

Mark
     I told you – no.

He hits
Gary
.

Then, he pulls away from
Gary
.

Gary
     See. See. I know who you are. So finish it.

Mark
     No.

He hits
Gary
repeatedly
.

I’m. Not. Your. Dad.

Lulu
     Leave him. Leave him now. Finished. It’s over.

Gary
     No. Don’t stop now.

Robbie
     No?

Robbie
gets into position to continue fucking
Gary
.

Gary
     Because – look – this bit. It doesn’t end like this. He’s always got something. He gets me in the room, blindfolds me. But he doesn’t fuck me. Well not him, not his dick. It’s the knife. He fucks me – yeah – but with a knife.

So . . .

Pause
.

Lulu
     No.

Mark
     Gotta have something.

Gary
     In the kitchen. Or, or a screwdriver. Or something.

Lulu
     No.

Gary
     Got to be fucking something. That’s how it ends.

Robbie
pulls off
Gary
’s blindfold
.

Robbie
     No. I can’t do that.

Gary
     You’re not gonna finish like this?

Robbie
     I’m not gonna do that.

Lulu
     You’ll bleed.

Gary
     Yeah.

Lulu
     You could die.

Gary
     No. I’ll be OK. Promise.

Robbie
     It’ll kill you.

Gary
     It’s what I want.

Lulu
     Go home now.

Gary
     Just do it. Just fucking do it.

You’re losers – you’re fucking losers you know that?

Robbie
     Yeah.

Gary
     Listen, right. When someone’s paying, someone wants something and they’re paying, then you do it.

Nothing right. Nothing wrong. It’s a deal. So then you do it. I thought you were for real.

Pretending, isn’t it? Just a story.

Robbie
     Yes. It’s just a story.

Mark
(
to
Robbie
and
Lulu
)     Please leave us now.

Lulu
     We needed his money.

Mark
     I know. If you leave us alone. I’ll take care of this. Yes?

Lulu
     Come on, come on.

Exit
Robbie
and
Lulu
.

Gary
     Are you gonna do it? I want you to do it. Come on. You can do it.

Because he’s not out there.

I’ve got this unhappiness. This big sadness swelling like it’s gonna burst.

I’m sick and I’m never going to be well.

Mark
     I know.

Gary
     I want it over. And there’s only one ending.

Mark
     I understand.

Gary
     He’s got no face in the story. But I want to put a face to him. Your face.

Mark
     Yes.

Gary
     Do it. Do it and I’ll say ‘I love you’.

Mark
     Alright. You’re dancing and I take you away.

The flat
.

Brian
has the holdall of money
.

Brian
     You know, life is hard. On this planet. Intractable. I can tell you this because I feel it. Yes, like you I have felt this. We work, we struggle. And we find ourselves asking: what is this for? Is there meaning? I know you’ve . . . I can see this question in your eyes. You ask yourself these questions. Right now – yes?

Robbie
     Yes.

Brian
     And you – what is there to guide me on my lonely journey?

Yes?

Lulu
     Yes.

Brian
     We need something. A guide. A talisman. A set of rules. A compass to steer us through this everlasting night. Our youth is spent searching for this guide until we . . . some give up. Some say there is nothing. There is chaos. We are born into chaos. But this is . . . no. This is too painful. This is too awful to contemplate. This we deny. Am I right?

Robbie
     Yes.

Brian
     Yes. I have a rung a bell. Good, good. Bells are rung.

Chaos or . . . order. Meaning. Something that gives us meaning.

Pause
.

My dad once said to me. My dad said it to me and now I’m going to say it to you. One day my dad says to me: Son, what are the first few words in the Bible?

Robbie
     In the beginning.

Brian
     No.

Robbie
     Yes. In the beginning.

Brian
     I’m telling you no.

Robbie
     That’s what it says. In the beginning.

Brian
     No, son. I’m telling you no. And you listen to me when I’m telling you no, alright?

Robbie
     Alright.

Brian
     Tell me, son, says my dad, what are the first few words in the Bible? I don’t know, Dad, I say, what are the first few words in the Bible? And he looks as me, he looks me in the eye and he says: Son, the first few words in the Bible are . . . get the money first. Get. The Money. First.

Pause
.

It’s not perfect, I don’t deny it. We haven’t reached perfection. But it’s the closest we’ve come to meaning, Civilisation is money. Money is civilisation. And civilisation – how did we get here? By war, by struggle, kill or be killed. And money – it’s the same thing, you understand?

The getting is cruel, is hard, but the having is civilisation. Then we are civilised. Say it. Say it with me. Money is . . .

Pause
.

SAY IT. Money is . . .

Lulu
and
Robbie
Civilisation.

Brian
     Yes. Yes. I’m teaching. You’re learning. Money is civilisation. And civilisation is . . . SAY IT. Don’t get frightened now. And civilisation is . . .

Lulu
and
Robbie
Money.

Brian
offers them the holdall
.

Brian
     Here. Take it.

Lulu
     You . . . ?

Brian
     I want you to take it.

Lulu
     It’s all there.

Brian
     Yes.

Lulu
     Look – if you want to count it. Three thousand.